The present specification refers to a patent of Invention corresponding to a new prototype of a self sufficient electronic system for the monitoring of steam traps, valves and installations, which can be applied to the remote control of fluids in all types of installations and specially to control the operation of all kinds of steam traps and to the instant detection of steam leaks in said elements.
Current technology dealing with the control of steam trap operation and with the detection of steam leakage through said steam traps is carried out by means of portable ultrasonic and pirometric detecting devices, which require the help of experts who must inspect and check one by one all the steam traps in the installation. This task is usually carried out every six months and it is very expensive, as it requires several months in the case of large installations such as petrol refineries, where several thousand steam traps are in service. An inspection of this type must be done on time and every six months, whereas a great amount of energy is lost through the steam traps when their failure occurs between two consecutive inspections.
Another way to control steam leaks and steam traps operation consists of the installation of fixed passive elements such as peephole or conductivity check type detecting devices. These devices are installed on line just upstream the steam trap, and detect the steam flow through steam traps. These elements require the help of expensive external devices for detection and analysis which are fed by auxiliary power sources, which, also, require expensive installation, and mainly require human attention for their correct operation. These types of elements placed upstream the steam traps require maintenance and their failure would require stopping the system for checking and repair. The background disclosed in the document GB-A-2 231 407 and similar documents do not solve the problem of monitoring steam traps, valves and installations in real time in an autonomous way.
The new prototype of a self sufficient electronic system for monitoring steam traps, valves and installation can be applied to any type of valve or fluid installation or to any type of steam trap and will solve satisfactorily all problems and inconveniences present in the systems described in the present technological state due to the fact that the system of present invention is a self sufficient system, with no need for auxiliary power source, which will not be mounted in line with steam trap, but on top of said steam trap as an independent fitting, so the system can be removed without having to stop or modify said steam trap working conditions. The system effects a continuous control on steam traps and remains fully operative without any energy consumption and in a warning condition, to detect any steam leak through a steam trap and send an immediate warning.
The new prototype, object of this invention, provides one or several of the following types of information: optical, acoustic or numeric coded. The optical information consists of an indicator, which can show several conditions (off, blinking, on, and ordinal) depending on fluid condition through steam traps or the installation. The acoustic information identifies the same parameters as the optical information by means of an audible tone system. The numeric coded information contains the same information as previously mentioned, and in addition a code for the identification of the steam trap or the spot where and when the failure has taken places said information also being sent to an optional receiver control panel for its further analysis and process.
The new prototype, object of this invention, is of great economical importance for four essential reasons:
a) Great energy savings due to an instant spotting and identification of steam losses.
b) Reduction of maintenance costs in steam traps due to an immediate detection of the failure in these elements, avoiding total interior destruction that can take place because of a continuous steam flow through them.
c) It avoids the pressurization of the return condensate collectors, created by steam leakage through steam traps. This pressurization affects very unfavourably to energy saving in the whole installation and makes it difficult, and sometimes impossible, the recovery of condensate residual energy.
d) Steam traps and valves are widely used in all types of industries, and therefore this new invention will be of wide application to industrial processes.